Airport

I realized when I got to the airport that I forgot to buy a calling card so that I can call my ride when I get to Stockholm. I paid $6 to use the airport internet to buy one online. I guess that I could have just bought one in Stockholm, but I am bored and feel weird about leaving and it gave me an excuse to use the internet and blog.

Everything at the airport has gone smoothly thus far, but I have a long journey ahead. I'm already exhausted. My bags are really heavy and I look like a sherpa walking around. I'm really proud of myself that I didn't go over the weight limit with my checked in baggage.

I'm too tired to think or write so I am going to post pics from my going away party. It was awesome and there was a great turn out. I will miss my friends....

Packing

Moving out of my apartment and packing to live abroad for a year has proven to be quite difficult. I am exhausted, packing in general was tough. I only want to bring two bags with me so there was a lot of deciding what is going and what is staying. I started by making two piles, a "yes" pile and a "no" pile. Here is what the "yes" pile looked like at the start:

Well, the yes pile was far too big, so I had to cut it in half. Then I had to cut that half in half. Then I had to have my buddy Ian come over to help me cut that half of a half in half. He was an awesome packing buddy, super rational and super fast. I would hold up an item and he would say yes or no in less than a second. We also blew glass this morning. Ian has been my main glass partner for the past few years. It was sad knowing that we wouldn't work together again for a while. When you blow glass with someone consistently over the years your timing is perfect and you trust that person and it makes making work a lot less stressful. But I am really glad that we spent that time together this morning. Here are some pics of us at the studio:

So I am grateful that I am almost done packing. I fly out tomorrow.

Not there quite yet.

When I tell people that I am going to be living in Sweden for a year, they always ask "Why Sweden?" It's a tough question to answer. The simplest is that everyone has a place that they wanted to go, or live, I guess Sweden is that country for me. It's also a tough question to answer because there have been a long series of events that have gotten me this far, but I will get into that another time. Basically I wrote a grant, found out in June of this year that I was receiving funding, and then had a few months to drop everything in my life and get ready to move. It














wasn't easy, but I'm not complaining. I am going to be able to blow glass and make art everyday for a whole year - without having to work a day job! I'll get into that another time as well.
I included this picture because apparently it is where I will be living.